(L) The bear fountain on Main Street Geneseo. (R) SUNY Geneseo’s campus. File photos.
GENESEO – After more than a year in limbo, the coalition between SUNY Geneseo and the Village of Geneseo has a bright future.
When SUNY Geneseo President Denise Battles took office a year ago, she said that she wanted to re-evaluate the viability of the Healthy Campus Community Coalition, which seeks to reduce alcohol abuse and incidents that stem from alcohol abuse. It appears that the college still considers the coalition useful.
“We think the same way,” said Geneseo Village Trustee Margaret Duff. “We understand that underage drinking is not something that we can eliminate, but if we can keep kids safe, that’s a start.”
Battles cited the following reasons for continuing the coalition:
- the continued relevance to our community of the HCCC’s goal, namely to promote the responsible, safe and legal use of alcohol.
- the efficacy (as established through research) of campus-community coalitions in advancing that goal
- the potential for effective partnerships among the College, village and other community organizations (like CASA, the Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse of Livingston County), which build on other efforts like our recently refreshed Village-College Relations Compact.
The Coalition has not met over the past year as the College called for it to be re-evaluated.
Historically, the College and Village have not always seen eye to eye on issues of alcohol and drug abuse. Village officials have expressed frustration with College policies in the past, most notably while the College was taking action against the fraternity Phi Sigma Xi(PHIGS) following the drug-related death of one of their members in May 2014.
When the Coalition was last active, it included then-Village Trustee Bob Wilcox, Dr. Sarah Covell, Alcohol and Other Drug Program Coordinator for SUNY GeneseoPolice, Chief Eric Osganian; Lauren Thompson, Coordinator Of Late Night Programs and Activities for SUNY Geneseo; Dana Minton, Coordinator of Health Promotion for SUNY Geneseo; JoBeth Rath, Workforce Development Manager for Goodwill of the Finger Lakes; Thomas Walters, medical director of Livingston County CASA’s (Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse) Geneseo branch; Scott Kenney, Assistant Chief of University Police for SUNY Geneseo; Tamara Kenney, Assistant Dean of Students for Student Conduct and Community Standards for SUNY Geneseo; Jim Whitehead, Geneseo Tourism; Wendi Kinney, Assistant Dean of Students for Fraternal Life and Off-Campus Services; Joe Van Remmen, Inspector for University Police, and Superintendent of the Geneseo School District Tim Hayes.